Before you ask yourself, “Is that Santa with the King and Camilla waving from a magical snow carriage?”, the answer is no. Beware AI adverts for Christmas markets that seem too good to be true, is the message from Buckingham Palace, after hopeful visitors arrived at the UK’s royal household in London expecting a glittering seasonal wonderland full of classy craft market stalls and fairy lights. Instead, they were welcomed by closed gates and the usual security detail.
The fake version of the palace event appeared in a series of images on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, including one platform titled london.travelers, said by some to have originated the post and since deleted it. Embarrassingly for the tourists and Londoners who believed there really might be a Christmas Market at Buckingham Palace, they failed to spot suspicious signs that the event was not real, including pictures showing market stands inside the private grounds of the palace and fairy lights seemingly suspended in mid-air.
One Londoner told Metro he had been in a crowd of around 30 visitors attempting to find the non-existent Xmas fair on a cold, dark November evening. Others have complained online about falling for the scam. In their defence, there is a Christmassy shop at the Palace. What’s more, The Royal Mews Christmas Shop’s opening hours are exactly the same as the fake market’s, from 14 November 2025 to 5 January 2026, offering the Christmassiest of official royal gifts, alongside seasonal “drinks and nibbles.”
In its defence, in an attempt to avoid confusion, The Royal Collection Trust had said in its original announcement (and has been forced to clarify since) that its seasonal shop is rather more sedate than the usual glühwein and polar bear-themed carousels that can be found in a wonderland-style market.
“Please note that the Royal Mews Christmas Shop is a pop-up shop selling Royal Collection Trust festive products within the existing Royal Mews shop space, and is not a Christmas market,” it said, repeating: There will not be a Christmas market at Buckingham Palace.”
Though it’s not clear who exactly is benefitting from fake events like this one, other similar seasonal swindles, such as Christmas “wonderlands,” have been happening since before the advent of AI. In 2011, two brothers faced 13 months in prison after selling tickets to a New Forest-based seasonal attraction that turned out to be nothing more than a muddy field and a broken ice rink.
